Two individual titles highlight Day 1 of NCAA Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships action

EUGENE — It was the women’s (and decathlete’s) turn to play on day two of the NCAA Championships. Much like day one, the bulk of the day’s action consisted of qualifying rounds for Saturday’s finals.

[Related: 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships results (NCAA.com)]

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: It’s Maggie’s world and we’re just living in it. After being disappointed by failing to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the hammer throw, Ewen let it be known that she’ll make the events she did qualify in worth it. She claimed the NCAA shot put title with a 19.17-meter (62 feet - 10 3/4 inches) throw. What made it even better? Teammate Samantha Noennig joining her on the podium in seventh place after a 17.12m (56 - 2) best effort. Ewen will be back on Saturday looking for a discus title to add to her resumé.

Kaylee Antill threw 55.79m (183 feet) for 24th place in the hammer. On the track, Alethia Marrero clocked 2 minutes, 4.56 seconds in the 800 meter dash. Good enough for 10th place in the semis, but did not qualify her for Saturday’s final.

Setting person bests (PBs) in the javelin wasn’t good enough for Mackenzie Little and Jenna Gray. They wanted trophies, too. And they got ‘em. Little threw 60.36 meters (198 feet) to claim Stanford’s first-ever NCAA title in the women’s javelin, with teammate Gray right behind her in second place with a 57.29m (187 - 11) best throw. Little said that while the results were a little sweeter than she expected, the fact that she and Gray placed so high on the podium was “not a surprise at all.”

Valarie Allman threw her way to All-American status as well with her eighth place finish in the hammer. Her 63.52-meter (208 - 5) throw was just a hair of her PB to boot. Also on the field, Erika Malaspina finished the pole vault tied for 12th place (4.15 / 13 - 7 1/4) while teammate Kaitlyn Merritt no-heighted in the event. Christina Aragon and Elise Cranny survived the 1,500m semifinals together, finishing in 4:15.00 and 4:15.05, respectively. After surviving a nasty fall in the opening event of the day, Harrison Williams withdrew from the decathlon.

Alyssa Wilson secured her spot as an All-American in not one, but two events Thursday. Wilson started with a PB and fourth-place finish in the hammer throw, (66.99m / 219 - 9) and finished with another collegiate-best mark and sixth-place finish in the shot put, (17.21m / 56 - 5 3/4).

The pair of Wildcat relay teams put up valiant efforts but came up short in qualifying for Saturday’s finals. The 4x100m team clocked a 45.10-second lap for 23rd place, while the 4x400m team ran 3:34.26 for 12th place.

Kaili Keefe set a massive PB in in the 1,500m semifinal, running a 4:15.39 that earned her second-team All-American status in 16th place. Stephanie Cho ran 59.06 in the 400m hurdles, good enough for 20th place.

The Pac-12 pole vault champion head a heckuva a day for the Golden Bears, recording a school-record 4.30m (14 -1 1/4) mark that earned her second-team All-American status in 11th place.

Hello, Grayson Murphy! The Ute has been cleaning up school records since joining the squad — and bettered her own yet again Thursday. Her 9:48.57 mark in the 3,000m steeplechase earned her second place in the semifinals and a solid spot in Saturday’s final, which is sure to be speedy. This is the first time in NCAA history that the entire semifinal field had to run below 10 minutes to qualify for the final.

Speaking of speedy steeplers, Val Constien had one herself terrific day. She ran 9:50.98 in the event to earn a spot on the line Saturday. The Buffs had a trio in the 10,000m final. Kaitlyn Benner finished seventh in 33:13.38, Erin Clark finished ninth in 33:20.46, and Makena Morley finished 11th in 33:28.66. Elissa Mann placed 17th overall in the 800m semifinal, running 2:06.73.

The Huskies’ Emily Hamlin was also part of that crazy-deep steeple field. She ran 10:14.71 to place 19th, which does not qualify her for Saturday’s final.

Destiny Dawson had quite the showing for the Beavs. The junior set a new PB with her (52.14m / 171 - 1) throw, which also earned her second-team All-American status in ninth place.

You could see your Ducks in a whopping 11 events during today’s NCAA action. The 4x100m team kicked things off with a blazing 42.95-second relay that earned them a spot in the final. The 4x400m team wrapped things up with the fastest time of the day in the event: 3:28.01. Sticking with some sprints, you’ll see 100m hurdler Alaysha Johnson on Saturday after her 12.70-second run in the semifinals. Ariana Washington qualified for the 100m final after an 11.08-second semi, but fellow 100m teammate Jasmin Reed did not (11.24, 13th place). Lauren Rain Williams, Ariana Washington and Jasmin Reed were all shut out of the 200m final.

On the longer side, Pac-12 champs Jessica Hull and Sabrina Southerland both advanced to finals in the 1500m (4:10.09) and 800m (2:02.96), respectively. Senior Alli Cash withdrew from the 10,000m.

On the field, Rhesa Foster finished 12th overall in the long jump with a 6.32m best jump. Freshman Keira McCarrell completed her first ever NCAA Champs in 23rd place with a (43.07m / (141 - 3) throw in the javelin.

The Trojans posted some impressive performances Thursday but failed to qualify some key athletes for the finals, which could affect their chance at the NCAA team title. Both the 4x100m and 4x400m teams made the cut, running 42.97 and 3:29.44, respectively. All four Trojans got shut out of the 100m hurdles final. Anna Cockrell finished highest in ninth place (12.88), while Mecca McGlaston finished 11th (12.98), Chanel Brissett 12th (13.02), and Dior Hall 13th (13.05).

Twanisha Terry (11.08) and Deanna Hill (11.17) both qualified for the 100m final, but teammate Anglerne Annelus finished 15th in the event. Double the distance, however, and you’ve got both Hill and Annelus on the line for the final of the 200m (22.52 and 22.78, respectively). Terry finished in 11th place (22.82) to not qualify for the final.

In the 400m semi, Pac-12 Champion Kendall Ellis qualified for Saturday’s action, running 51.38, while Kyra Constantine did not, running 53.18 for 19th place. Throw in some hurdles and you’ll see Cockrell in the final of the 400m hurdles after her 56.07-second performance. Shante Robinson failed to advance after a 58.24-second run.

On the field, Madisen Richards set a PB and earned All-American status in the long jump with an eighth place, (6.42m / 21 3/4) best showing.

On the women's side, Friday sees the first day of heptathlon action, while Saturday crowns the bulk of NCAA individual titles and the team champion.